BARCELONA—The Samsung Galaxy S 6 is what the Galaxy S5 should have been. I want it to be my next phone.

After the disappointing, cheap-looking S5, Samsung is roaring back with a gorgeous and powerful Galaxy S 6 in two forms: regular and edge, which has a screen that slopes down on both sides. I got some time to try it out just before Mobile World Congress and I was deeply moved. I think you will be, too.

Start with the body. Plastic, be gone! The S 6 is made of metal and glass, but it's smarter metal and glass than we saw on iPhones: the glass back is Gorilla Glass 4 rather than Apple's eminently breakable "ion-tempered" stuff. The phone is basically all glass over a colored inlay with a brushed-metal surround. The basic model comes in white, black, gold, and turquoise. I like the black best, as it shows hints of blue when the light strikes it; very classy. At about 2.75 inches wide and about 4.8 ounces, it's narrower than the Galaxy S5 and more appropriate for one-handed use.

Then there's the S 6 edge, which, yes, has a screen that slopes down on both sides. I find this even more compelling than the standard model; it really stands out, and it's still comfortable to hold. The "edge" functionality is pared down from the Galaxy Note 4 Edge. It still works as an alarm clock and offers a news feed when the phone's main screen is off. When the screen is on, though, the edge doesn't function as a separate panel, although you can pull out a set of favorite contacts by dragging your thumb over it.

I've been using the Galaxy Note Edge for a while, and it feels good to hold. The Galaxy S5, not so much. That ridiculous chromed plastic surround ruined it for me, especially when compared to more elegant models like the HTC One M8 and Apple iPhone 6. The Galaxy S 6 is genuinely fun to hold - small enough to feel like a phone, but with curves and edges that pleasantly surprise you. It can hold its own with any other manufacturer's models on design. It puts its competitors on notice.

Sharp Screen, Fast Processor The Galaxy S 6's screen is ridiculously sharp. At 5.1 inches and 2,560 by 1,440, it has 577 pixels per inch. The physical home button, below the screen, works both as a fingerprint sensor (touch, not swipe) and as a camera launch button if you tap it twice. There's still an IR sensor for heart-rate monitoring on the back, and an IR emitter for remote controlling home electronics on the top.

What there isn't is a memory card slot or removable battery. The battery here is smaller than in past Galaxy S phones - 2,550 mAh on the normal model and 2,600 on the edge as opposed to 2,800 on the Galaxy S5. Samsung says they have better power management, a more efficient processor, and both wireless and quick USB charging built in. But you know that super-dense screen is going to suck a lot of power, so battery life is one of the top questions here. As for memory, there will be 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB models.

The S 6 will be the first Samsung phone with a Samsung processor in the U.S. While Samsung is officially being very coy about this, I asked people close to development and found that yes, the new Exynos 7 chip (paired with a Qualcomm modem) will be the processor in the U.S. models as well. Our columnist Michael Miller took a look at the Exynos 7, which is the first processor built using a 14nm process. Presumably, that will make it fast.

The camera has been bumped up to 16 megapixels, and yes, it has a bump. That will bother some people, but not most, I suspect. The front camera is 5 megapixels. Both cameras collect a lot of light, with an f/1.9 maximum aperture, and white balance has been enhanced by IR sensing, which helps the phone tell whether it's indoors or out. When I compared a photo taken with the S5 to the same photo with the S 6, the S 6 photo had much better exposure balance, was less blurry, and was much less blown out in bright areas.

The speaker grille is on the bottom, with the headphone jack and a fast-charging USB port that's compatible with Qualcomm QuickCharge. The bottom edge of the phone looks a lot like the iPhone 6, which will probably cause some talk, although the rest of the phone doesn't look like an iPhone at all. Samsung said the speaker is 1.5 times as loud as the S5's back-ported speaker, and played some music to prove it. It isn't HTC's BoomSound level of richness, but it'll do.

Software and Accessories Samsung pared down its overly complex TouchWiz software from the S4 to the S5, but not enough for many people. The Galaxy Note Edge then added a bit more complexity, with apps that run on its curved edge. The S 6, Samsung said, is another move towards simplicity, although it isn't stock Android Lollipop 5.0.2.

Samsung showed how it has further trimmed down options (and hopefully, memory footprint) with the S 6, with simpler menus and faster load times all around. When I checked on my test S 6, I found Samsung's software used 7GB, down from 7.78GB on the Note 4 Edge. Launching the camera has gotten much faster: I got from button-press to image in 0.65 seconds, as compared to 1.6 seconds on the Galaxy S5. That's a real difference.

The phone also supports Samsung Pay (formerly LoopPay) mobile payment system, which connects to actual existing magnetic-stripe readers rather than needing some exotic NFC-based system to make credit card purchases. It works with MasterCard and Visa, but not American Express (yet.) Your credit card information will be stored in an encrypted manner on the phone, Samsung said. To use it, you swipe up from the bottom of the phone and then rest your finger on the fingerprint sensor in the home button.

There are cases, too, of course. Along with the traditional Samsung window and folder cases, Samsung showed a new clear case, which shows off the back color of the S 6. Samsung finally released a Galaxy S you won't want to hide.

The Samsung Galaxy S 6 will come to all major U.S. carriers this April. AT&T, Sprint, T­-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, and Verizon Wireless will carry the Galaxy S 6 and Galaxy S 6 edge, and Boost Mobile, Cricket Wireless, and MetroPCS will carry the Galaxy S 6. We'll have full reviews.

About the Author

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 13 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, hosts our One Cool Thing daily Web show, and writes opinions on tech and society.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer. Other than ... See Full Bio

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